undesirable line

The boy is correct to question the choices of the house's previous residents. Upon lifting the lino after a tedious afternoon removing the beading from the edge of the skirting the sight of tiles similar to those infesting the kitchen in the old flat was not welcome, particularly after encountering some of the sticky black gloop with which they were stuck down on my travels. It is unknown what caused the distinct black mark between living-room and elsewhere... the underside of the lino was white, so it was perhaps a former covering being trodden down into the tiles which allowed the most frequent route to be so marked.